m 


-  That  was  the  beginning  of  the  most  splendid  fun 
a  picnic  ever  had  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 

As  told  by  Queen  Crosspatch 

By 
Frances    Hodgson   Burnett 

Author  of  "  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy  " 

With  Illustrations  by  Harrison  Cady 


The  Century  Co. 
New  York  .  .    1912 


Copyright,  1907,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 

Published  October, 


I  AM  very  fond  of  this  story  of  the 
Cozy  Lion  because  I  consider  it  a 
great  credit  to  me.  I  reformed  that 
Lion  and  taught  hint  how  to  behave 
himself.  The  grown-up  person  who 
reads  this  story  aloud  to  children 
MUST  know  how  to  Roar. 


261148 


"  If  they  saw  a  donkey  coming  down  the  road  they  were 
afraid  it  might  turn  out  to  be  a  Lion  " 


THE  COZY  LION 

I  SHALL  never  forget  the  scold 
ing  I  gave  him  to  begin  with.  One 
of  the  advantages  of  being  a  Fairy 
—even  quite  a  common  one — is 
that  Lions  can't  bite  you.  A  Fairy 
is  too  little  and  too  light.  If  they 
snap  at  you  it 's  easy  to  fly  through 
their  mouths,  and  even  if  they 
catch  you,  if  you  just  get  behind 
their  teeth  you  can  make  them  so 
uncomfortable  that  they  will  beg 
you  to  get  out  and  leave  them  in 
peace. 


10 The  Cozy  Lion 

Of  course  it  was  all  the  Lion's 
fault  that  I  scolded  him.  Lions 
ought  to  live  far  away  from  people. 
Nobody  likes  Lions  roaming  about 
—particularly  where  there  are 
children.  But  this  Lion  said  he 
wanted  to  get  into  Society,  and  that 
he  was  very  fond  of  children — little 
fat  ones  between  three  and  four. 
So  instead  of  living  on  a  desert,  or 
in  a  deep  forest  or  a  jungle  he  took 
the  large  Cave  on  the  Huge  Green 
Hill,  only  a  few  miles  from  a  vil 
lage  full  of  the  fattest,  rosiest  little 
children  you  ever  saw. 

He  had  only  been  living  in  the 
Cave  a  few  days,  but  even  in  that 
short  time  the  mothers  and  fathers 


The  Cozy  Lion  1 1 

had  found  out  he  was  there,  and 
everybody  who  could  afford  it  had 
bought  a  gun  and  snatched  it  up 
even  if  they  saw  a  donkey  coming 
down  the  road,  because  they  were 
afraid  it  might  turn  out  to  be  a  Lion. 
As  for  the  mothers,  they  were 
nearly  crazy  with  fright,  and  dare 
not  let  their  children  go  out  to  play 
and  had  to  shut  them  up  in  top 
rooms  and  cupboards  and  cellars, 
they  were  so  afraid  the  Lion  might 
be  hiding  behind  trees  to  jump  out 
at  them.  So  everything  was  be 
ginning  to  be  quite  spoiled  because 
nobody  could  have  any  fun. 

Of  course  if  they  had  had  any. 
sense  and  believed  in  Fairies  and 


12 The  Cozy  Lion 

had  just  gone  out  some  moonlight 
night  and  all  joined  hands  and 
danced  slowly  around  in  a  circle 
and  sung: 

Fairies  pink  and  Fairies  rose 
Fairies  dancing  on  pearly  toes 

We  want  you,   Oh!  we  want  you! 
Fairy  Queens  and  Fairy  slaves 
Who  are  not  afraid  of  Lions'  Caves 

Please  to  come  to  help  us, 

then  it  would  have  been  all  right, 
because  we  should  have  come  in 
millions,  especially  if  they  finished 
with  this  verse: 

Our  troubles  we  can  never  tell 

But  if  you  would  come  it  would  all  be 

well 
Par-tic-u-lar-ly  Silverbell. 


"When  I  got  to  the  Cave,  the  Lion  was  sitting 
outside  his  door  and  he  was  crying  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 15 

But  they  had  n't  sense  enough 
for  that — of  course  they  had  n't — 
of  coitrse  they  had  nt !  Which 
shows  what  loonies  people  are. 

But  you  see  I  am  much  nicer 
than  ///z-fairy  persons,  even  if  I 
have  lost  my  nice  little,  pink  little, 
sweet  little  Temper  and  if  I  am 
cross.  So  when  I  saw  the  children 
fretting  and  growing  pale  because 
they  had  to  be  shut  up,  and  the 
mothers  crying  into  their  washtubs 
when  they  were  washing,  until  the 
water  slopped  over,  I  made  up  my 
mind  I  would  go  and  talk  to  that 
Lion  myself  in  a  way  he  would  n't 
soon  forget. 

It  was  a  beautiful  morning,  and 


J_6 The  Cozy  Lion 

the  Huge  Green  Hill  looked  lovely. 
A  shepherd  who  saw  me  thought 
I  was  a  gold  and  purple  butterfly 
and  threw  his  hat  at  me — the 
idiot!  Of  course  he  fell  down  on 
his  nose --and  very  right  and 
proper  too. 

When  I  got  to  the  Cave,  the 
Lion  was  sitting  outside  his  door 
and  he  was  crying.  He  was  one 
of  these  nasty-tempered,  discon 
tented  Lions  who  are  always  think 
ing  themselves  injured;  large  round 
tears  were  rolling  down  his  nose 
and  he  was  sniffling.  But  I  must 
say  he  was  handsome.  He  was 
big  and  smooth  and  had  the  most 
splendid  mane  and  tail  I  ever  saw, 


The  Cozy  Lion T7 

He  would  have  been  like  a  King  if 
he  had  had  a  nicer  expression. 
But  there  he  sat  sniffling. 

"  I  'm  so  lonely,"  he  said.  "  No 
body  calls.  Nobody  pays  me  any 
attention.  And  I  came  here  for 
the  Society.  No  one  is  fonder  of 
Society  than  I  am." 

I  sat  down  on  a  flowering  branch 
near  him  and  shouted  at  him, 
"  What  's  the  use  of  Society  when 
you  eat  it  up  ?  "  I  said. 

He  jumped  up  and  lashed  his  tail 
and  growled  but  at  first  he  could 
not  see  me. 

"What  's  it  for  but  to  be  eaten 
up  ?  "  he  roared.  "  First  I  want  it 
to  entertain  me  and  then  I  want 


18 The  Cozy  Lion 

it  for  dessert.     Where   are   you  ? 
Who  are  you  ?" 

"  I     'm     Queen     Crosspatch— 
Queen  Silverbell  as  was,"  I  said. 
"  I    suppose    you    have    heard    of 
me?" 

"  I  Ve  heard  nothing  good,"  he 
growled.  "  A  good  chewing  is 
what  you  want !  " 

He  had  heard  something  about 
me,  but  not  enough.  The  truth 
was  he  did  n't  really  believe  in 
Fairies — which  was  what  brought 
him  into  trouble. 

By  this  time  he  had  seen  me  and 
he  was  ignorant  enough  to  think 
that  he  could  catch  me,  so  he  laid 
down  flat  in  the  thick,  green  grass 


\\1 


£%J®r  ,s 


"  He  jumped  up  and  lashed  his  tail  " 


The  Cozy  Lion  21 

and  stretched  his  big  paws  out  and 
rested  his  nose  on  them,  thinking  I 
would  be  taken  in  and  imagine  he 
was  going  to  sleep.  I  burst  out 
laughing  at  him  and  swung  to  and 
fro  on  my  flowery  branch. 

"  Do  you  want  to  eat  me  ?  "  I 
said.  "  You  'd  need  two  or  three 
quarts  of  me  with  sugar  and  cream 
—like  strawberries." 

That  made  him  so  angry  that  he 
sprang  roaring  at  my  tree  and 
snapped  and  shook  it  and  tore  it 
with  his  claws.  But  I  flew  up  in 
to  the  air  and  buzzed  all  about  him 
and  he  got  furious — -just  furious. 
He  jumped  up  in  the  air  and  lashed 
his  tail  and  thrashed  his  tail  and 


22  The  Cozy  Lion 

CRASHED  his  tail,  and  he  turned 
round  and  round  and  tore  up  the 
grass. 

"  Don't  be  a  silly,"  I  said.  "  It  's 
a  nice  big  tufty  sort  of  tail  and  you 
will  only  wear  it  out." 

So  then  he  opened  his  mouth 
and  roared  and  roared.  And  what 
do  you  suppose  /  did  ?  I  flew 
right  into  his  mouth.  First  I  flew 
into  his  throat  and  buzzed  about 
like  a  bee  and  made  him  cough  and 
cough  and  cough — but  he  could  n't 
cough  me  up.  He  coughed  and  he 
houghed  and  he  woughed;  he  tried 
to  catch  me  with  his  tongue  and 
he  tried  to  catch  me  with  his  teeth 
but  I  simply  made  myself  tinier  and 


He  was  too  frigiuened  to  hit  anything  ' 


The  Cozy  Lion  25 

tinier  and  got  between  two  big 
fierce  white  double  ones  and  took 
one  of  my  Fairy  Workers'  ham 
mers  out  of  my  pocket  and  ham 
mered  and  hammered  and  ham 
mered  until  he  began  to  have  such 
a  jumping  toothache  that  he  ran 
leaping  and  roaring  down  the  Huge 
Green  Hill  and  leaping  and  roaring 
down  the  village  street  to  the  den 
tist's  to  get  some  toothache  drops. 
You  can  just  imagine  how  all  the 
people  rushed  into  their  houses, 
and  how  the  mothers  screamed  and 
clutched  their  children  ana  hid 
under  beds  and  tables  and  in  coal- 
bins,  and  how  the  fathers  fumbled 
about  for  guns.  As  for  the  den- 


26 The  Cozy  Lion 

tist,  he  locked  his  door  and  bolted 
it  and  barred  it,  and  when  he  found 
his  gun  he  poked  it  out  of  the 
window  and  fired  it  off  as  fast  as 
ever  he  could  until  he  had  fired  fifty 
times,  only  he  was  too  frightened 
to  hit  anything.  But  the  village 
street  was  so  full  of  flashes  and 
smoke  and  bullets  that  Mr.  Lion 
turned  with  ten  big  roars  and  gal 
loped  down  the  street,  with  guns 
fired  out  of  every  window  where 
the  family  could  afford  to  keep  a 
gun. 

When  he  got  to  his  home  in  the 
Huge  Green  Hill,  he  just  laid  down 
and  cried  aloud  and  screamed  and 
kicked  his  hind  legs  until  he 


"  '  I  am  a  poor,  sensitive,  lonely  orphan 
Lion,'  he  said  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 29 

scratched  a  hole  in  the  floor  of  his 
cave. 

"Just  because  I  'm  a  Lion,"  he 
sobbed,  "just  because  I  'm  a  poor, 
sensitive,  helpless,  orphan  Lion  no 
body  has  one  particle  of  manners. 
They  won't  even  sell  me  a  bottle  of 
toothache  drops.  And  I  was  n't 
going  to  touch  that  dentist — until  he 
had  cured  me  and  wrapped  up  the 
bottle  nicely  in  paper.  Not  a  touch 
was  I  going  to  touch  him  until  he 
had  done  that." 

He  opened  his  mouth  so  wide  to 
roar  with  grief  that  I  flew  out  of  it. 
I  had  meant  to  give  him  a  lesson 
and  I  'd  given  him  one.  When  I 
flew  out  of  his  mouth  of  course  his 


30 The  Cozy  Lion 

beautiful  double  teeth  stopped  ach 
ing.  It  was  such  a  relief  to  him 
that  it  made  quite  a  change  in  his 
nature  and  he  sat  up  and  began  to 
smile.  It  was  a  slow  smile  which 
spread  into  a  grin  even  while  the 
tear-drops  hung  on  his  whiskers. 

"  My  word!  How  nice,"  he 
said.  "  It  's  stopped." 

I  had  flown  to  the  top  of  his  ear 
and  I  shouted  down  it. 

"  I  stopped  it,"  I  said.  "  And  I 
began  it.  And  if  you  don't  behave 
yourself,  I  '11  give  you  earache  and 
that  will  be  worse." 

Before  I  had  given  him  his  les 
son  he  would  have  jumped  at  me 
but  now  he  knew  better.  He  tried 


The  Cozy  Lion  31 

to  touch  my  feelings  and  make  me 
sorry  for  him.  He  put  one  paw 
before  his  eyes  and  began  to  sniff 
again. 

"  I  am  a  poor  sensitive  lonely 
orphan  Lion,"  he  said. 

"You  are  nothing  of  the  sort," 
I  answered  very  sharply.  "You 
are  not  poor,  and  heaven  knows 
you  are  not  sensitive,  and  you 
need  n't  be  lonely.  I  don't  know 
whether  you  are  an  orphan  or  not 
—and  I  don't  care.  You  are  a 
nasty,  ill-tempered,  selfish,  biting, 
chewing  thing." 

"  There  's  a  prejudice  against 
Lions,"  he  wept.  "  People  don't 
like  them.  They  never  invite 


32 The  Cozy  Lion 

them  to  children's  parties — nice 
little  fat,  tender,  children's  parties 
-where  they  would  enjoy  them 
selves  so  much — and  the  refresh 
ments  would  be  just  what  they 
like  best.  They  don't  even  invite 
them  to  grown-up  parties.  What 
I  want  to  ask  you  is  this :  has  one 
of  those  villagers  called  on  me  since 
I  came  here — even  a  tough  one  ?  " 

"  Nice  stupids  they  would  be  if 
they  did,"  I  answered. 

He  lifted  up  his  right  paw  and 
shook  his  head  from  side  to  side  in 
the  most  mournful  way. 

"  There,"  he  said.  "  You  are 
just  as  selfish  as  the  rest.  Every 
body  is  selfish.  There  is  no 


I  do  not  know  the  answer  to  that  riddle,'  he  said  ' 


The  Cozy  Lion 35 

brotherly  love  or  consideration  in 
the  world.  Sometimes  I  can 
scarcely  bear  it.  I  am  going  to 
ask  you  another  question,  and  it  is 
almost  like  a  riddle.  Who  did  you 
ever  see  try  to  give  pleasure  to  a 
Lion?" 

I  got  into  his  ear  then  and 
shouted  down  it  as  loud  as  ever  I 
could. 

"  Who  did  you  ever  see  a  Lion 
try  to  give  pleasure  to?"  I  said. 
"  You  just  think  over  that.  And 
when  you  find  the  answer,  tell  it  to 
me." 

I  don't  know  whether  it  was  the 
newness  of  the  idea,  or  the  sudden 
ness  of  it,  but  he  turned  pale. 


36 The  Cozy  Lion 

Did  you  ever  see  a  Lion  turn  pale? 
I  never  did  before  and  it  was  funny. 
You  know  people's  skins  turn  pale 
but  a  Lion's  skin  is  covered  with 
hair  and  you  can't  see  it,  so  his 
hair  has  to  turn  pale  or  else  you 
would  never  know  he  was  turning 
pale  at  all.  This  Lion's  hair  was 
a  beautiful  tawny  golden  color  to 
begin  with  and  first  his  whiskers 
turned  white  and  then  his  big  mane 
and  then  his  paws  and  then  his 
body  and  last  his  long  splendid 
tail  with  the  huge  fluffy  tuft  on  the 
end  of  it.  Then  he  stood  up  and 
his  tail  hung  down  and  he  said 
weakly: 

"  I  do  not  know  the  answer  to 


The  Cozy  Lion 37 

that  riddle.  I  will  go  and  lie  down 
in  my  Cave.  I  do  not  believe  I 
have  one  friend  in  this  world." 
And  he  walked  into  his  Cave  and 
laid  down  and  sobbed  bitterly. 

He  forgot  I  was  inside  his  ear 
and  that  he  carried  me  with  him. 
But  I  can  tell  you  I  had  given  him 
something  to  think  of  and  that  was 
what  he  needed.  This  way  of 
feeling  that  nothing  in  the  world 
but  a  Lion  has  a  right  to  be  com 
fortable — just  because  you  happen 
to  be  a  Lion  yourself — is  too  silly 
for  anything. 

I  flew  outside  his  ear  and  boxed 
it  a  little. 

"  Come  1  "      T     said.       "  Crying 


38 The  Cozy  Lion 

won't   do    you    any    good.      Are 
you  really  lonely — really — really— 
really — so  that  it  gives  you  a  hol 
low  feeling  ?  " 

He  sat  up  and  shook  his  tears 
away  so  that  they  splashed  all 
about — something  like  rain. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered.  "  to  tell  the 
truth  I  am — I  do  like  Society.  I 
want  friends  and  neighbors — and  I 
don't  only  want  them  for  dessert 
I  am  a  sociable  Lion  and  am  affec 
tionate  in  my  nature — and  cling 
ing.  And  people  run  as  fast  as 
they  can  the  moment  they  hear  my 
voice."  And  he  quite  choked  with 
the  lump  in  his  throat. 

"Well,"  I  snapped,  "what  else 


11  Kindness  and  afternoon  teas  would  have  made 
the  Cozy  Lion  happy  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 41 

do  you  expect  ?  "  That  overcame 
him  and  he  broke  into  another  sob. 
"  I  expect  kindness,1'  he  said,  "  and 
invitations  to  afternoon  teas — and 
g-g-arden  parties  " 

"Well  you  won't  get  them,"  I 
interrupted,  "  If  you  don't  change 
your  ways.  If  you  eat  afternoon 
teas  and  garden  parties  as  though 
they  were  lettuce  sandwiches,  you 
can't  expect  to  be  invited  to  them. 
So  you  may  as  well  go  back  to  the 
desert  or  the  jungle  and  live  with 
Lions  and  give  up  Society  alto 
gether." 

"  But  ever  since  I  was  a  little 
tiny  Lion — a  tiny,  tiny  one — I  have 
wanted  to  get  into  Society.  I  will 


42  The  Cozy  Lion 

change — I  will !  Just  tell  me  what 
to  do.  And  do  sit  on  my  ear  and 
talk  down  it  and  stroke  it.  It  feels 
so  comfortable  and  friendly." 

You  see  he  had  forgotten  that  he 
had  meant  to  chew  me  up.  So  I 
began  to  give  him  advice. 

"  The  first  things  you  will  have 
to  do  will  be  to  change  your  temper 
and  your  heart  and  your  diet,  and 
stop  growling  and  roaring  when 
you  are  not  pleased." 

"  I  '11  do  that,  I  '11  do  that,"  he 
said  ever  so  quickly.  "  You  don't 
want  me  to  cut  my  mane  and  tail 
off,  do  you  ?  " 

"  No.  You  are  a  handsome  Lion 
and  beauty  is  much  admired," 


The  Cozy  Lion 43 

Then  I  snuggled  quite  close  up  to 
his  ear  and  said  down  it,  "  Did  you 
ever  think  how  nice  a  Lion  would 
be  if — if  he  were  much  nicer  ?  " 

"  N-no,"  he  faltered. 

11  Did  you  ever  think  how  like  a 
great  big  cozy  lovely  dog  you  are  ? 
And  how  nice  your  big  fluffy  mane 
would  be  for  little  girls  and  boys  to 
cuddle  in,  and  how  they  could  play 
with  you  and  pat  you  and  hug  you 
and  go  to  sleep  with  their  heads  on 
your  shoulder  and  love  you  and 
adore  you — if  you  only  lived  on 
Breakfast  Foods  and  things — and 
had  a  really  sweet  disposition  ?  " 

He  must  have  been  rather  a  nice 
Lion  because  that  minute  he  began 


44 The  Cozy  Lion 

to  look  "  kind  of  smiley  round  the 
mouth  and  teary  round  the  lashes  " 
-which  is  part  of  a  piece  of  poetry 
I  once  read. 

"Oh!  Aunt  Maria!"  he  ex 
claimed  a  little  slangily.  "  1  never 
thought  of  that:  it  would  be  nice." 

"  A  Lion  could  be  the  coziest 
thing  in  the  world — if  he  would,"  I 
went  on. 

He  jumped  up  in  the  air  and 
danced  and  kicked  his  hind  legs  for 
joy. 

"Could  he!  Could  he!  Could 
he?"  he  shouted  out.  "Oh!  let 
me  be  a  Cozy  Lion  !  Let  me  be  a 
Cozy  Lion  !  Hooray !  Hooray ! 
Hooray !  I  would  like  it  better 


^fet^ 


£  Little  children  would  justyf^/^  to  see  you 
and  play  with  you,'  I  said" 


The  Cozy  Lion 47 

than  being  invited  to  Buckingham 
Palace !  " 

"  Little  children  would  ]\\^ flock 
to  see  you  and  play  with  you,"  I 
said.  "  And  then  if  they  came, 
their  mothers  and  fathers  could  n't 
be  kept  away.  They  would  flock 
too." 

The  smile  of  joy  that  spread  over 
his  face  actually  reached  his  ears 
and  almost  shook  me  off. 

"That  would  be  Society!'  he 
grinned. 

"The  very  best!"  I  answered. 
"Children  who  are  real  darlings, 
and  not  imitations,  come  first,  and 
then  mothers  and  fathers — the  rest 
just  straggle  along  anywhere.'' 


48 The  Cozy  Lion 

"  When  could  it  begin  ?  When 
could  it  begin  ?  "  he  panted  out. 

"  Not,"  I  said  very  firmly,  "  un 
til  you  have  tried  some  Breakfast 
Food  !  " 

"Where  shall  I  get  it?  Oh! 
Where?  Oh!  Where?" 

"/  will  get  it,  of  course,"  was 
my  answer. 

Then  I  stood  up  on  the  very  tip 
of  his  ear  and  put  my  tiny  golden 
trumpet  to  my  lips.  (And  Oh ! 
how  that  Lion  did  roll  up  his  eyes 
to  try  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  me !) 
And  I  played  this  tune  to  call  my 
Fairy  Workers : 

I  'm  calling  from  the  Huge  Green  Hill, 
Tira-lira-lira, 


"  Every  Fairy  Worker  with  a  little  sack  on  his 
green  back  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 51 

The  Lion's  Cave  is  cool  and  still. 
Tira-lira-lira. 

The  Lion  wishes  to  improve 
And  show  he  's  filled  with  tender  love 
And  not  with  Next  Door  Neighbor. 

The  Lion  wishes  to  be  good. 
To  fill  him  full  of  Breakfast  Food 
Will  aid  him  in  his  labor. 

Bring  Breakfast  Food  from  far  and 

near 

— He  '11  eat  a  dreadful  lot  I  fear. 
Oh !  Tira-lira-lira-la 
And  Tira-lira-ladi. 

A  Lion  learning  to  be  good 

Needs  Everybody's  Breakfast  Food. 

You  workers  bring  it — Tira-la 

And  Tira-lira-ladi. 

Then  the  Fairy  Workers  came 


52 The  Cozy  Lion 

flying  in  clouds.  In  three  minutes 
and  three  quarters  they  were 
swarming  all  over  the  Huge  Green 
Hill  and  into  the  Lion's  Cave, 
every  one  of  them  with  a  little  sack 
on  his  green  back.  They  swarmed 
here  and  they  swarmed  there. 
Some  were  cooks  and  brought  tiny 
pots  and  kettles  and  stoves  and 
they  began  to  cook  Breakfast 
Foods  as  fast  as  lightning.  The 
Lion  sat  up.  (I  forgot  to  say  that 
he  had  turned  ///z-pale  long  before 
this  and  was  the  right  color  again.) 
And  his  mouth  fell  wide  open,  just 
with  surprise  and  amazement. 
What  amazed  him  most  was  that 
not  one  out  of  all  those  thousands 


The  Cozy  Lion 53 

of  little  Workers  in  their  green 
caps  and  smocks  was  the  least  bit 
afraid  of  him.  Why,  what  do  you 
think  !  My  little  Skip  just  jumped 
up  and  stood  on  the  end  of  the 
Lion's  nose  while  he  asked  me  a 
question.  You  never  saw  any 
thing  as  funny  as  that  Lion  look 
ing  down  the  bridge  of  his  nose  at 
him  until  he  squinted  awfully.  He 
was  so  interested  in  him. 

"  Does  he  take  it  with  sugar  and 
cream,  your  Royal  Silver-cross- 
bell-ness?"  Skip  asked  me,  taking 
off  his  green  cap  and  bowing  low. 

"  Try  him  with  it  in  both  ways," 
I  said. 

When  the  Workers  had  made  a 


54  The  Cozy  Lion 

whole  lot  of  all  the  kinds  together 
they  poured  it  into  a  hollow  stone 
and  covered  it  with  sugar  and 
cream. 

"  Ready,  your  Highnesses  !  " 
they  all  called  out  in  chorus. 

"  Is  that  it?"  said  the  Lion. 
"  It  looks  very  nice.  How  does 
one  eat  it?  Must  I  bite  it?" 

"  Dear  me,  no,"  I  answered. 
"  Lap  it." 

So  he  began.  If  you  '11  believe 
me,  he  simply  reveled  in  it.  He 
ate  and  ate  and  ate,  and  lapped 
and  lapped  and  lapped  and  he  did 
not  stop  until  the  hollow  stone 
was  quite  clean  and  empty  and  his 
sides  were  quite  swelled  and  puffed 


"I  V'.  /^:'^\ 


<  He  ate  and  ate  and  ate,  and  lapped  and 
lapped  and  lapped  " 


The  Cozy  Lion  57 

out.     And  he  looked  as  pleased  as 
Punch. 

"  I  never  ate  anything  nicer  in 
my  life,"  he  said.  "  There  was  a 

Sunday  School  picnic  I  once  went 

>  > 
to — 

"  A  Sunday  School  picnic  !  '  I 
shouted  so  fiercely  that  he  blushed 
all  over.  The  very  tuft  on  his  tail 
was  deep  rose  color.  "Who  in 
vited  you  ?  " 

He  hung  his  head  and  stam 
mered. 

"  I  was  not  exactly  invited"  he 
said,  "and  did  n't  go  with  the 
school  to  the  picnic  grounds — but 
I  should  have  come  back  with  it— 
at  least  some  of  it — but  for  some 
men  with  guns  !  " 


58 The  Cozy  Lion 

I  stamped  on  his  ear  as  hard  as 
ever  I  could. 

"  Never  let  me  hear  you  men 
tion  such  a  subject  again,"  I  said. 
"  Nobody  in  Society  would  speak 
to  you  if  they  knew  of  it !  " 

He  quite  shook  in  his  shoes- 
only  he  had  n't  any  shoes. 

"  I  '11  never  even  think  of  it 
again,"  he  said.  "  I  see  my  mis 
take.  I  apologize.  I  do  indeed !  " 

Now  what  do  you  suppose  hap 
pened  at  that  very  minute  ?  If  I 
had  n't  been  a  Fairy  I  should  have 
been  frightened  to  death.  At  that 
very  minute  I  heard  little  children's 
voices  singing  like  skylarks  farther 
down  on  the  Huge  Green  Hill — 


Ci  c  It  sounds  like  a  Sunday  school  pic- 
the  Lion  began  to  say  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 61 

actually  little  children — a  whole  lot 
of  them ! 

"  It — it  sounds  like  the  Sunday 
School  pic — "  the  Lion  began  to 
say — and  then  he  remembered  he 
must  not  mention  the  subject  and 
stopped  short. 

"  Has  your  heart  changed?"  I 
said  to  him.  "  Are  you  sure  it 
has?" 

"  I  think  it  has,"  he  said  meekly, 
"  but  even  if  it  had  n't,  ma'am,  I  'm 
so /till  of  Breakfast  Food  I  couldn't 
eat  a  strawberry." 

It  happened  that  I  had  my  heart 
glass  with  me — I  can  examine 
hearts  with  it  and  see  if  they  have 
properly  changed  or  not. 


62 The  Cozy  Lion 

"  Roll  over  on  your  back,"  I 
said.  "  I  will  examine  your  heart 
now." 

And  the  little  children  on  the 
Huge  Green  Hill  side  were  coming 
nearer  and  nearer  and  laughing  and 
singing  and  twittering  more  like 
skylarks  than  ever. 

He  rolled  over  on  his  back  and 
I  jumped  off  his  ear  on  to  his  big 
chest.  I  thumped  and  listened  and 
looked  about  until  I  could  see  his 
great  heart  and  watch  it  beating 
-thub — thub — thub — thub.  It 
actually  had  changed — almost  all 
over  except  one  little  corner  and  as 
the  children's  voices  came  nearer 
and  nearer  and  sounded  like  whole 


The  Cozy  Lion 63 

nests  full  of  skylarks  let  loose,  even 
the  corner  was  changing  as  fast  as 
it  could.  Instead  of  a  big  ugly 
dark  red  fiery  heart,  it  was  a  soft 
ivory  white  one  with  delicate  pink 
spots  on  it. 

"  It  has  changed !  "  I  cried  out. 
"  You  are  going  to  be  a  great  big 
nice    soft    cozy    thing,     and    you 
could  n't  eat  a  picnic  if  you  tried— 
and  you  will  never  try." 

He  was  all  in  a  flutter  with  relief 
when  he  got  up  and  stood  on  his 
feet. 

And  the  laughing  little  voices 
came  nearer  and  nearer  and  I  flew  to 
the  Cave  door  to  see  what  was 
happening. 


64 The  Cozy  Lion 

It  was  really  a  picnic.  And 
goodness  !  how  dangerous  it  would 
have  been  if  it  had  not  been  for  me. 
That  's  the  way  I  am  always  sav 
ing  people,  you  notice. 

The  little  children  in  the  village 
had  grown  so  tired  of  being  shut  up 
indoors  that  about  fifty  of  them 
who  were  too  little  to  know  any 
better  had  climbed  out  of  windows, 
and  slipped  out  of  doors,  and 
crawled  under  things,  and  hopped 
over  them,  and  had  all  run  away  to 
gether  to  gather  flowers  and  wild 
Peachstrawberines,  and  lovely  big 
yellow  Plumricots  which  grew  thick 
on  the  bushes  and  in  the  grass  on 
the  Huge  Green  Hill.  The  de- 


14  The  little  children  in  the  village  had  grown 
tired  of  being  shut  up  indoors  " 


The  Cozy  Lion  67 

licious  sweet  pink  and  purple  Ice 
cream-grape-juice  Melons  hung  in 
clusters  on  trees  too  high  for  them 
to  reach,  but  they  thought  they 
would  just  sit  down  under  their 
branches  and  look  at  them  and  sniff 
and  hope  one  would  fall. 

And  there  they  came — little 
plump  girls  and  boys  in  white 
frocks  and  with  curly  heads — not 
the  least  bit  afraid  of  anything: 
tumbling  down  and  laughing  and 
picking  themselves  up  and  laughing, 
and  when  they  got  near  the  Cave, 
one  of  my  Working  Fairies,  just 
for  fun,  flew  down  and  lighted  on 
one  little  girl's  fat  hand.  She 
jumped  for  joy  when  she  saw  him 


68 The  Cozy  Lion 

and  called  to  the  others  and  they 
came  running  and  tumbling  to  see 
what  she  had  found. 

"  Oh !  look — look !"  she  called  out. 
"What  is  he!  What  is  he!  He 
is  n't  a  bird — and  he  is  n't  a  bee 
and  he  is  n't  a  butterfly.  He  's  a 
little  teeny,  weeny-weeny-weeny- 
weeny  wee,  and  he  has  little  green 
shoes  on  and  little  green  stockings, 
and  a  little  green  smock  and  a  little 
green  hat  and  he  's  laughing  and 
laughing." 

And  then  a  boy  saw  another  in 
the  grass — and  another  under  a 
leaf,  and  he  shouted  out,  too. 

"  Oh  !  here  's  another — here  's 
another."  And  then  the  Workers 


A/ 


"  One  of  my  Working  Fairies,  just  for  fun,  flew 
down  and  alighted  on  a  little  girl's  fat  hand  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 71 

all  began  to  creep  out  of  the  grass 
and  from  under  the  leaves  and  fly 
up  in  swarms  and  light  on  the 
children's  arms  and  hands  and  hats 
and  play  with  them  and  tickle  them 
and  laugh  until  every  child  was 
dancing  with  fun,  because  they  had 
never  seen  such  things  before  in 
their  lives. 

I  flew  back  to  the  Lion.  He 
was  quite  nervous. 

"  It  is  a  picnic,"  I  said.  "  And 
now  is  your  chance.  Can  you 
purr  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  can."  And  he  began  to 
make  a  beautiful  purring  which 
sounded  like  an  immense  velvet 
cat  over  a  saucer  of  cream. 


72 The  Cozy  Lion 

"  Come  out  then,"  I  ordered  him. 
"  Smile  as  sweetly  as  you  can  and 
don't  stop  purring.  Try  to  look 
like  a  wriggling  coaxing  dog — I 
will  go  first  and  prevent  the  chil 
dren  from  getting  frightened." 

So  out  we  went.  I  was  riding 
in  his  ear  and  peeping  out  over  the 
top  of  it.  I  did  not  let  the  children 
see  me  because  I  wanted  them  to 
look  at  the  Lion  and  at  nothing 
else. 

What  I  did  was  to  make  them 
remember  in  a  minute  all  the  nicest 
Lions  they  had  ever  seen  in  pic 
tures  or  in  the  circus.  Many  of 
them  had  never  seen  a  Lion  at  all 
and  the  few  who  had  been  to  a 


The  Cozy  Lion  73 

circus  had  only  seen  them  in  big 
cages  behind  iron  bars,  and  with 
notices  written  up,  "  Don't  go  near 
the  Lions." 

When  my  Lion  came  out  he  was 
smiling  the  biggest,  sleepiest, 
curliest,  sweetest  smile  you  ever 
beheld  and  he  was  purring,  and  he 
was  softly  waving  his  tail.  He 
stood  still  on  the  grass  a  moment 
and  then  lay  dowrn  with  his  big 
head  on  his  paws  just  like  a  huge, 
affectionate,  coaxing  dog  waiting 
and  begging  somebody  to  come 
and  pet  him.  And  after  staring  at 
him  for  two  minutes,  all  the  chil 
dren  began  to  laugh,  and  then  one 
Little  little  girl  who  had  a  great 


74 The  Cozy  Lion 

mastifffor  a  friend  at  home,  suddenly 
gave  a  tiny  shout  and  running  to 
him  tumbled  over  his  paws  and  fell 
against  his  mane  and  hid  her  face 
in  it,  chuckling  and  chuckling. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  the 
most  splendid  fun  a  picnic  ever 
had.  Every  one  of  them  ran 
laughing  and  shouting  to  the  Lion. 
It  was  such  a  treat  to  them  to 
actually  have  a  Lion  to  play  with. 
They  patted  him,  they  buried  their 
hands  and  faces  in  his  big  mane, 
they  stroked  him,  they  scrambled  up 
on  his  back,  and  sat  astride  there. 
Little  boys  called  out,  "  Hello, 
Lion !  Hello,  Lion  !  "  and  little 
girls  kissed  his  nice  tawny  back 


The  Cozy  Lion 75 

and  said  "  Liony  !  Liony !  Sweet 
old  Liony ! "  The  Little  Little  Girl 
who  had  run  to  him  first  settled 
down  right  between  his  huge  front 
paws,  resting  her  back  comfortably 
against  his  chest,  and  sucked  her 
thumb,  her  blue  eyes  looking  very 
round  and  big.  She  was  comfy. 

I  kept  whispering  down  his  ear 
to  tell  him  what  to  do.  You  see, 
he  had  never  been  in  Society  at  all 
and  he  had  to  learn  everything  at 
once. 

"  Now,  don't  move  suddenly/' 
I  whispered.  "  And  be  sure  not 
to  make  any  loud  Lion  noises. 
They  don't  understand  Lion  lan 
guage  yet." 


76  The  Cozy  Lion 

"  But  oh  !  I  am  so  happy,"  he 
whispered  back,  "  I  want  to  jump 
up  and  roar  for  joy." 

"  Mercy  on  us  !  "  I  said.  "  That 
would  spoil  everything.  They  'd 
be  frightened  to  death  and  run 
away  screaming  and  crying  and 
never  come  back." 

11  But  this  little  one  with  her 
head  on  my  chest  is  such  a 
sweetie!"  he  said.  "May  n't  I  just 
give  her  a  little  lick — just  a  little 
one?" 

"  Your  tongue  is  too  rough. 
Wait  a  minute,"  I  answered. 

My  Fairy  Workers  were  swarm 
ing  all  about.  They  were  sitting 
in  bunches  on  the  bushes  and 


H*  " 

"  My  Fairy  Workers  were  swarming  all  about  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 79 

hanging  in  bunches  from  branches, 
and  hopping  about  and  giggling 
and  laughing  and  nudging  each 
other  in  the  ribs  as  they  looked  on 
at  the  Lion  and  children.  They 
were  as  amused  as  they  had  been 
when  they  watched  Winnie  sitting 
on  the  eggs  in  the  Rook's  nest.  I 
called  Nip  to  come  to  me. 

"  Jump  on  to  the  Lion's  tongue," 
I  said  to  him,  "  and  smooth  it  off 
with  your  plane  until  it  is  like  satin 
velvet — not  silk  velvet,  but  satin 
velvet." 

The  Lion  politely  put  out  his 
tongue.  Nip  leaped  up  on  it  and 
began  to  work  with  his  plane.  He 
worked  until  he  was  quite  hot,  and 


80 The  Cozy  Lion 

he  made  the  tongue  so  smooth  that 
it  was  quite  like  satin  velvet. 

"  Now  you  can  kiss  the  baby/' 
I  said. 

The  Little  Little  Girl  had  gone 
to  sleep  by  this  time  and  she  had 
slipped  down  and  lay  curled  up  on 
the  Lion's  front  leg  as  if  it  was  an 
arm  and  the  Lion  bent  down  and 
delicately  licked  her  soft  cheek,  and 
her  fat  arm,  and  her  fat  leg,  and 
purred  and  purred. 

When  the  other  children  saw 
him  they  crowded  round  and  were 
more  delighted  than  ever. 

"  He  's  kissing  her  as  if  he  was 
a  mother  cat  and  she  was  his  kit 
ten/'  one  called  out,  and  she  held 


The  Cozy  Lion 


out  her  hand.  "  Kiss  me  too. 
Kiss  me,  Liony,"  she  said. 

He  lifted  his  head  and  licked  her 
little  hand  as  she  asked  and  then 
all  the  rest  wanted  him  to  kiss  them 
and  they  laughed  so  that  the  Little 
Little  Girl  woke  up  and  laughed 
with  them  and  scrambled  to  her 
feet  and  hugged  and  hugged  as 
much  of  the  Lion  as  she  could  put 
her  short  arms  round.  She  felt  as 
if  he  was  her  Lion. 

"  I  love  oo  —  I  love  oo,"  she  said. 
"  Tome  and  play  wiv  us." 

He  smiled  and  smiled  and  got 
up  so  carefully  that  he  did  not  up 
set  three  or  four  little  boys  and 
girls  who  were  sitting  on  his  back. 


82 The  Cozy  Lion 

You  can  imagine  how  they  shouted 
with  glee  when  he  began  to  trot 
gently  about  with  them  and  give 
them  a  ride.  Of  course  everybody 
wanted  to  ride.  So  he  trotted 
softly  over  the  grass  first  with  one 
load  of  them  and  then  with  another. 
When  each  ride  was  over  he  lay 
down  very  carefully  for  the  children 
to  scramble  down  from  his  back 
and  then  other  ones  scrambled  up. 
The  things  he  did  that  afternoon 
really  made  me  admire  him.  A 
Cozy  Lion  is  nicer  to  play  with 
than  anything  else  in  the  world. 
He  shook  Ice-cream-grape-juice 
Melons  down  from  the  trees  for 
them.  He  carried  on  his  back  to 


He  shook  Ice-cream-grape-juice  Melons  down 
from  the  trees  for  them  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 85 

a  clear  little  running  brook  he 
knew,  every  one  who  wanted  a 
drink.  He  jumped  for  them,  he 
played  tag  with  them  and  when  he 
caught  them,  he  rolled  them  over 
and  over  on  the  grass  as  if  they 
were  kittens ;  he  showed  them  how 
his  big  claws  would  go  in  and  out 
of  his  velvet  paws  like  a  pussy 
cat's.  Whatever  game  they  played 
he  would  always  be  "  It,"  if  they 
wanted  him  to.  When  the  tiniest 
ones  got  sleepy  he  made  grass 
beds  under  the  shade  of  trees  and 
picked  them  up  daintily  by  their 
frocks  or  little  trousers  and  carried 
them  to  their  nests  just  as  kittens 
or  puppies  are  carried  by  their 


86 The  Cozy  Lion 

mothers.  And  when  the  others 
wanted  to  be  carried  too,  he  carried 
them  as  well. 

The  children  enjoyed  themselves 
so  much  that  they  forgot  about 
going  home  altogether.  And  as 
they  had  laughed  and  run  about 
every  minute  and  had  had  such  fun, 
by  the  time  the  sun  began  to  go 
down  they  were  all  as  sleepy  as 
could  be.  But  even  then  one  little 
fellow  in  a  white  sailor  suit  asked 
for  something  else.  He  went  and 
stood  by  the  Lion  with  one  arm 
around  his  neck  and  the  other  un 
der  his  chin.  "  Can  you  roar,  old 
Lion?"  he  asked  him.  "I  am 
sure  you  can  roar." 


The  Cozy  Lion 87 

The  Lion  nodded  slowly  three 
times. 

"  He  says  '  Yes — Yes,'  "  shouted 
everybody,  "  Oh  !  do  roar  for  us— 
as    loud    as    ever    you    can.     We 
won't  be  frightened  the  least  bit." 

The  Lion  nodded  again  and 
smiled.  Then  he  lifted  up  his 
head  and  opened  his  mouth  and 
roared  and  roared  and  ROARED. 
They  were  not  the  least  bit  fright 
ened.  They  just  shrieked  and 
laughed  and  jumped  up  and  down 
and  made  him  do  it  over  and  over 
again. 


* 


Now    I    will    tell    you    what   had 
happened  in  the  village. 


88 The  Cozy  Lion      

At  first  when  the  children  ran 
away  the  mothers  and  fathers  were 
all  at  their  work  and  did  not  miss 
them  for  several  hours.  It  wras  at 
lunch  time  that  the  grown-ups  be 
gan  to  find  out  the  little  folks  were 
gone  and  then  one  mother  ran  out 
into  the  village  street,  and  then 
another  and  then  another,  until  all 
the  mothers  were  there,  and  all  of 
them  were  talking  at  once  and 
wringing  their  hands  and  crying. 
They  went  and  looked  under  beds, 
and  tables  and  in  cupboards,  and  in 
back  gardens  and  in  front  gardens, 
and  they  rushed  to  the  village  pond 
to  see  if  there  were  any  little  hats  or 
bonnets  floating  on  the  top  of  the 


' '  Then  he  opened  his  mouth  and  roared  and 
roared  and  ROARED  " 


The  Cozy  Lion 


water.  But  all  was  quiet  and 
serene  and  nothing  wras  floating 
anywhere  —  and  there  was  not  one 
sign  of  the  children. 

When  the  fathers  came  the 
mothers  all  flew  at  them.  You  see 
it  is  n't  any  joke  to  lose  fifty  chil 
dren  all  at  once. 

The  fathers  thought  of  the  Lion 
the  first  thing,  but  the  mothers  had 
tried  not  to  think  of  him  because 
they  could  n't  bear  it. 

But  at  last  the  fathers  got  all  the 
guns  and  all  the  pistols  and  all  the 
iron  spikes  and  clubs  and  scythes 
and  carving  knives  and  old  swords, 
and  they  armed  themselves  with 
them  and  began  to  march  all  to- 


92 The  Cozy  Lion 

gether  toward  the  Huge  Green  Hill. 
The  mothers  would 'go  too  and  they 
took  scissors  and  big  needles  and 
long  hat  pins  and  one  took  a  big 
pepper-pot,  full  of  red  pepper,  to 
throw  into  the  Lion's  eyes. 

They  had  so  much  to  do  before 
they  were  ready  that  when  they 
reached  the  Huge  Green  Hill  the 
sun  was  going  down  and  what  do 
you  think  they  heard  ? 

They  heard  this— 

"  Ro-o-a-a-arh  !  Ro-o-a-a-rh  ! 
Ro-o-a-a-arrh  !  "  almost  as  loud  as 
thunder.  And  at  the  same  time 
they  heard  the  shouts  and  shrieks 
of  the  entire  picnic. 

But  they  did  not  know  that  the 


The  Cozy  Lion  93 

picnic  was  shouting  and  screaming 
for  joy. 

So  they  ran  and  ran  and  ran— 
and  stumbled  and  scrambled  and 
hurried  and  scurried  and  flurried 
faster  and  faster  till  they  had 
scrambled  up  the  Huge  Green  Hill 
to  where  the  Lion's  Cave  was  and 
then  they  gathered  behind  a  big 
clump  of  bushes  and  the  fathers  be 
gan  to  cock  their  guns  and  the 
mothers  to  sharpen  their  scissors 
and  hat  pins. 

But  the  mother  with  the  pepper- 
pot  had  nothing  to  sharpen,  so  she 
peeped  from  behind  the  bushes, 
and  suddenly  she  cried  out,  "  Oh  ! 
Oh  !  Oh  !  Oh  !  Look  !  Look  !  And 


94 The  Cozy  Lion 

don't  fire  a  single  girn,  on  any  ac 
count." 

And  they  all  struggled  to  the 
front  to  peep.  And  this — thanks 
to  Me — was  what  they  saw  ! 

On  the  green  places  before  the 
Lion's  Cave  on  several  soft  heaps 
of  grass,  the  tiniest  children  were 
sitting  chuckling  or  sucking  their 
thumbs.  On  the  grass  around 
them  a  lot  of  others  were  sitting  or 
standing  or  rolling  about  with 
laughter  and  kicking  up  their  heels 
—and  right  in  front  of  the  Cave 
there  stood  the  Lion  looking  abso 
lutely  angelic.  His  tail  had  a 
beautiful  blue  sash  on  it  tied  just 
below  the  tuft  in  a  lovely  bow,  he 


f  At  last  the  fathers  armed  themselves  and  began 

to  march  all  together  toward  the  Huge 

Green  Hill " 


The  Cozy  Lion 97 

had  a  sash  round  his  waist,  and 
four  children  on  his  back.  The 
Little  Little  Girl  was  sitting  on  his 
mane  which  was  stuck  full  of 
flowers,  and  she  was  trying  to  put 
a  wreath  on  the  top  of  his  head  and 
could  n't  get  it  straight,  which 
made  him  look  rather  rakish.  On 
one  side  of  him  stood  the  little  boy 
in  the  sailor  suit,  and  on  the  other 
stood  a  little  girl,  and  each  one  held 
him  by  the  end  of  a  rope  of  pink 
and  white  wild  roses  which  they 
were  going  to  lead  him  with. 

The  mother  of  the  Little  Little 
Girl  could  not  wait  one  minute 
longer.  She  ran  out  towards  her, 
calling  out :- 


98 The  Cozy  Lion      

"  Oh  !  Betsy-petsy  !  Oh  !  Betsy- 
petsy  !  Mammy's  Lammy-girl !  " 

And  then  the  other  mothers 
threw  away  their  scissors  and  hat 
pins  and  ran  after  her  in  a  crowd. 

What  that  clever  Lion  did  was 
to  carefully  lie  down  without  up 
setting  anybody  and  stretch  out  his 
head  on  his  paws  as  if  he  was  a  pet 
poodle,  and  purr  and  purr  like  a 
velvet  cat. 

The  picnic  simply  shouted  with 
glee.  It  was  the  kind  of  picnic 
which  is  always  shouting  with 
glee. 

"  Oh  !  Mother  !  Mother  !  Father  ! 
Father !  "  it  called  out.  "  Look  at 
our  Lion  !  Look  at  our  Lion ! 


- 


"'Oh,  Mother!   Mother!  Father!   Father!   Look  at  our 
Lion  !   We  found  him  ourselves  !   He  's  ours  !  '  " 


The  Cozy  Lion  101 

We  found  him  ourselves  !      He  's 

ours." 

And  the  sailor  boy  shouted, 
"  He  '11  roar  for  me,  Mother !  " 
And  the  rest  cried  out  one  after 

another, 

"  He  '11  sit  up  and  beg  for  me !  " 
"  He  '11  carry  me  by  my  trou 


sers  ! 


"  He  can  play  tag!" 

"  He  '11  show  you  his  claws  go 
in  and  out !  " 

u  Mother,  ask  him  to  take  you 
on  his  back  to  get  a  drink.'5 

"  May  he  go  home  and  sleep 
with  me,  Mother?" 

It  was  like  a  bedlam  of  skylarks 
let  loose  this  time,  and  the  Lion 


102 The  Cozy  Lion 

had  to  do  so  many  tricks  that  only 
determination  to  show  how  Cozy 
he  was  kept  up  his  strength.  He 
was  determined  to  prove  to  the 
Fathers  and  Mothers  that  he  was 
Cozy. 

And  he  did  it. 

From  that  time  he  was  the  Lion 
of  the  Village.  He  was  invited 
everywhere.  There  never  was  a 
party  without  him.  Birthday 
parties,  garden  parties,  tea  parties, 
wedding  parties — he  went  to  them 
all.  His  life  was  one  round  of 
gaiety. 

He  became  most  accomplished. 
He  could  do  all  the  things  Lion:; 
do  in  Hippodromes — and  a  great 


The  Cozy  Lion 103 

many  more.  The  Little  Little 
Girl  gave  him  a  flute  for  a  present 
and  he  learned  to  play  on  it  beauti 
fully.  When  he  had  an  evening 
at  home  he  used  to  sit  at  his  Cave 
door  and  play  and  sing.  First  he 
played  and  then  he  sang  this — 

My  Goodness  Gracious  Me ! 

This  is  Socier-tee  ! 

My  Goodness  Gracious  Mercy  Me ! 

This  is  Socier-ier-tee ! 

It  is  Socier-tee  ! 

He  had  composed  it  himself. 


The  next  story  I  shall  tell  you  is 
about  my  Spring  Cleaning.  That 
will  show  you  how  I  have  to  work 
when  the  winter  is  over  and  how, 
if  it  were  not  for  Me,  things  would 
never  be  swept  up  and  made  tidy 
for  the  slimmer.  The  primroses 
and  violets  would  NEl^ER  be 
wakened,  or  the  Dormice  called  up, 
or  anything.  It  IS  a  busy  time,  I 
can  tell  you. 


He  could  do  all  the  things  Lions  do  in  Hippodromes  " 


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JUL   12  193c 

27Jut'50JP 
'       2Juf'5f  f  tf 

15JuD9GM 
REC'D  LD 


